Key Hospitality Influencer PKF Consulting Acquired by Real Estate Services Giant

PKF Consulting USA, an influential company in the hospitality sector with its consulting and research services, was acquired by real estate services provider CBRE Group, a public company, to bolster its hospitality consulting business.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

PKF’s lodging industry consulting business and hospitality research publications, including Hotel Horizons and Trends in the Hotel Industry, will continue and will be integrated into CBRE’s hospitality-related business, the companies say.

“David Arnold, Tom Callahan and Mark Woodworth will maintain leadership roles working closely with Scott Biethan, CBRE’s head of Hospitality and Gaming Valuation and Advisory  Services,” the companies say.

PKF Consulting USA’s 62 employees will join CBRE Group, a CBRE Group spokesperson says.

“The acquisition of PKF Consulting USA, LLC, a leading advisory, consulting and research firm specializing in the lodging industry, significantly strengthens CBRE’s objective of becoming the top global intermediary in hospitality services,” the spokesperson says.

CBRE Group, which has some 44,000 employees, already had 200 people working in the hospitality sector out of 43 offices around the world.

The CBRE spokesperson says PKF’s analytics, research and consulting services “mixes really well” with CBRE Group’s advisory services and commercial real estate research.